Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to enabling the remote monitoring of the contents and health of home appliances, specifically refrigerators.
Background and Description of the Related Art
Items are stored in areas that are remote from where they are purchased. For example, food is stored in refrigerators inside of the house, but we fill it with groceries that are purchased in a store remote from the refrigerator. When we are at the store, we cannot see what we have in the refrigerator, how much of each food we have or how old the food it.
The inside of a refrigerator consists of one or more shelves and drawers which hold the food, both inside the body of the refrigerator and inside the door. When the refrigerator is opening, the light goes on, and stays on until the door closes. The state of the refrigerator is only interesting when the door is closing, because at that time the individual has either taken out or put in whatever it is he is using or has used, and so only when the door is closing is the light on and the refrigerator is in a stable state.
In “Vision-Enabled Household Appliances” (U.S. Pat. No. 7,903,838), Hudnut and Gross describe a device that uses a camera to identify certain objects associated with an appliance, such as identifying which items need to be replenished or restocked in a refrigerator. The identification of the objects is done by a processor and a camera in the refrigerator, which then displays the contents of the refrigerator on the front of the refrigerator, or generate a list of items to order through a web site. All of the processing for this would have to take place inside the refrigerator, and Hudnut and Gross do not teach a way to limit images of the contents of the refrigerator only when the refrigerator is in a stable state and light is available; i.e. when the door is closing.
A solution is needed to enable users to remotely determine the contents of a refrigerator using the existing refrigerator.